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Plasma metabolomics reveals the intervention mechanism of different types of exercise on chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depression rat model

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Abstract

Objective

To study the effects of different types of exercise on the plasma metabolomics of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depressed rats based on 1H-NMR metabolomics techniques, and to explore the potential mechanisms of exercise for the treatment of depression. Rats were randomly divided into blank control group (C), CUMS control group (D), pre-exercise with CUMS group (P), CUMS with aerobic exercise group, CUMS with resistance exercise group (R), and CUMS with aerobic + resistance exercise group (E). The corresponding protocol intervention was applied to each group of rats. Body weight, sucrose preference and open field tests were performed weekly during the experiment to evaluate the extent of depression in rats. Plasma samples from each group of rats were collected at the end of the experiment, and then the plasma was analyzed by 1H-NMR metabolomics combined with multivariate statistical analysis methods to identify differential metabolites and perform metabolic pathway analysis. (1) Compared with the group D, the body weight, sucrose preference rate, and the number of crossings and standings in the different types of exercise groups were significantly improved (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). (2) Compared to group C, a total of 15 differential metabolites associated with depression were screened in the plasma of rats in group D, involving 6 metabolic pathways. Group P can regulate the levels of 6 metabolites: valine, lactate, inositol, glucose, phosphocreatine, acetoacetic acid. Group A can regulate the levels of 6 metabolites: N-acetylglycoprotein, leucine, lactate, low density lipoprotein, glucose and acetoacetic acid. Group R can regulate the levels of 6 metabolites: choline, lactate, inositol, glucose, phosphocreatine and acetoacetic acid. Group E can regulate the levels of 5 metabolites: choline, citric acid, glucose, acetone and acetoacetic acid. The different types of exercise groups can improve the depressive symptoms in CUMS rats, and there are common metabolites and metabolic pathways for their mechanism of effects. This study provides a powerful analytical tool to study the mechanism of the antidepressant effect of exercise, and provides an important method and basis for the early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of depression.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Project of Natural Science Research in Shanxi Province, China (202103021224027).

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  1. Xiangyu Liu and Bo Zhang contributed equally to this work and are regarded as joint first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physical Education, Huainan Normal University, Huainan, China

    Xiangyu Liu

  2. Changji Vocational and Technical College, Xinjiang, China

    Bo Zhang

  3. Modern Research Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China

    Junsheng Tian

  4. School of Physical Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China

    Yumei Han

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Contributions

Y.H., B.Z., X.L., and J.T. conceived and supervised the study; B.Z., and X.L. performed the experiments; B.Z., and X.L. analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript; S.Z. reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiangyu Liu.

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The experimental protocol was approved by the Scientific Research Ethics Committee of Shanxi University (SXULL-20200069)

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Liu, X., Zhang, B., Tian, J. et al. Plasma metabolomics reveals the intervention mechanism of different types of exercise on chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depression rat model. Metab Brain Dis 39, 1–13 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11011-023-01310-7

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